Stern marks decade as Bluffton High volleyball coach

What started as a leisurely pastime at an Oklahoma Army post more than 50 years ago turned into a lifelong passion for Bluffton High volleyball coach Al Stern.

Stern played competitively for 40 years, helped found the Low Country Volleyball Club in 1996 and currently serves as its director. He also coached the Bobcats to a state championship in 2007.

As Stern, 79, prepares to enter his 10th year at the helm of Bluffton High's volleyball team, he took a moment to reflect as the school prepares to share that 10-year anniversary.

"I would've learned about coaching women a lot sooner than I did," he said jokingly. "You can't learn everything overnight, obviously, and it takes some time, but it's a lot different than coaching men.

"Coaching these young women was the education of a lifetime. I can't ever remember playing on a team where the guys all liked each other, and it didn't bother us. I think that women have to be collegial towards each other, and they have to like each other for the team to succeed."

Seed planted

Stern began his association with volleyball while an artilleryman stationed at Fort Sill, Okla., when a Lithuanian staff sergeant in his division began recruiting a team. Though he referred to that team from long ago as "pathetic," Stern was hooked and the seeds for a lifelong passion were planted.

"We started practicing and didn't win a game at all that first year," he said. "We were pathetic, but we really loved it and the next year we won an Army championship.

"Once I got really hooked on it we would play YMCA volleyball since there was no USA Volleyball at the time. My wife and I would drive 8-10 hours on Friday night to play some volleyball on Saturday, party at night and drive home the next day. It was some of the best years of our life playing then and there."

Moving on, moving down

Stern retired from the Army after 28 years and moved on to government contract work in Virginia.

He put the final third of his Army career in the intelligence field to good use, working for a system integration company that dealt with the software, hardware and building of the National Crime Information Center database maintained by the FBI and used by various law enforcement agencies.

Despite having what he called a fabulous and interesting job, Stern retired for a second time after 12 years. When he announced his pending retirement for the second time, he was given an edict by the head of his volleyball club - give back to the sport he loved.

"When I said I was going to retire in Virginia the head of my volleyball club came and spoke to me," Stern said. "He told me that the sport had been very good to us, and that it had allowed us to play and compete all over the world.

"He told me it was time to give back and to do that I should coach kids. I moved down to the Lowcountry on July 3, 1996, and got a position as the junior varsity volleyball coach and did that for a year."

Stern remained in that position for a year and then took the head coaching position at Hilton Head Prep, after which he strictly officiated while he was on the Beaufort County Board of Education. As Bluffton's new high school was preparing to open in the fall of 2004, athletic director Dave Adams called him up and asked for help finding a head coach.

'The education of a lifetime'

Stern recalls that he did actually look for a head coach, but he ultimately felt the only available person with the experience to create a program from scratch was himself.

"I honestly looked, I really did," he said. "But after I looked I thought that the only person with the necessary experience to start a program from the ground up was me.

"Starting the program was not a problem for me, but I knew I did not want to stay forever. I said when I could find somebody to replace me I would step down. That was 10 years ago."

This is where Stern received the aforementioned "education of a lifetime." Whether it was time management or player management, Stern learned to navigate the waters of coaching high school volleyball.

"Just getting ready to play was an issue at times," he said. "The first time we had a match on the weekend we were scheduled to play at 9 a.m. and I told the girls to be there at 8:30 dressed and ready to play. They still had to get ready and be social and by 9 a.m. were no more ready to play.

"Girls are definitely competitive, but in most cases I don't think they enjoy being the star. They want to be good and they want to be a winner, but I think they might be hesitant at times to exceed others. It may give them a reason to look back."

He credits a certain speech devoted to men coaching women at convention in Virginia in 2006 with giving him a wealth of knowledge.

"The only subject was men coaching women and University of Kentucky volleyball coach Kathy DeBoer gave a speech on that subject," Stern said. "That was the best eight hours of my life, and I started to pick up the coaching faster.

"From there I implemented certain things like a one-minute period of uninterrupted speaking for every player who wanted to speak before practice started. The girls could talk about anything they wanted, but at the end they were ready to practice."

Reaping the rewards

It was Stern's fourth year holding the reins of the Bobcats volleyball program that Bluffton won the SCHSL Class AAA championship title. It was the perfect storm as Stern's knowledge of the game, recent coaching education and a talented Bobcats team all converged.

"That fourth year the seniors all got together and said they were going to win the state title then," Stern recalled. "It was one of the best teams I've ever had - a lot of talent and no drama.

"The girls were such a great team that even those who were not playing the game and were on the bench were just happy as larks to be in that moment. None of the girls ever complained."

End of the road?

Stern offers a candid response about the possibility of another 10 years at Bluffton - not likely. He would like to continue as the director of the Low Country Volleyball Club, however

"I figure I will do another year or two, but I think I'm down to my last year or two," he said. "I did what I set out to do with the program and I have a very good assistant in Tina Franklin who deserves to get that job. I will miss it, that's for sure, and it will be a little bittersweet, but I've enjoyed coaching and I've enjoyed my time here.

"In 1996 there wasn't a single volleyball club in the area, and now there's one in Beaufort and Hilton Head and two each in Bluffton and Savannah. I'll probably continue on as the director of Low Country Volleyball, though. It is time consuming and may be difficult to find somebody who can fill that role, so I'll probably stay on - so long as my wife has no objections."

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